Smart Technologies Help Keep Cities Safe and Running During COVID-19

May 7, 2020

By tapping into the benefits of various sensor and artificial intelligence technologies, smart cities are using model simulation, spread prediction models and city management strategies to monitor and understand how to keep citizens safe during the COVID-19 crisis.

“In general, smart cities should focus on the sustainability, resiliency, safety and inclusion provided by their deployed solutions,” says IEEE Member Dalton Valadares. “These solutions can now be used to help in the prevention, control and prediction activities related to the COVID-19 pandemic.”

IEEE Member Xun Luo explains that in order for city officials to make informed decisions on civic management, smart city technologies practice either passive or active monitoring approaches.

Valadares explains that using sensors and actuators for services like water and traffic management means monitoring work can be done remotely while we practice social distancing, and humans only need to take action when a service must be performed. For example, a sensor can send an alert when a road needs a human being physically present for cleaning or repair.

In contrast, Luo explains that active approaches depend upon vehicles or people to report their information voluntarily. Transponders installed on cars periodically sending information through a vehicle-to-infrastructure (V2I) network help cities understand traffic flows and how many people are still traveling during this time. People can also opt-in to use crowd-sourced applications to help researchers track the infection rate.